If it seems like this blog space has been quiet for a while, you’re right. It may sound counter-intuitive, but the summer is actually a pretty quiet time for us. There are so many other things competing for our attention, that getting out on the trail can get challenging.
Having said that, we haven’t been completely idle.

We’ve been focusing our attention on short trips as close to home as possible. For us, that has meant the Durham Region section of the Trans-Canada Trail east of Toronto.
Trying to find direction signs continues to be a source of irritation. While wandering around through overgrown fields and wooded areas with multiple paths leading in different directions, it would be really nice to know which one we should be following.

Even worse is when there are signs and they contradict the map I’ve printed off the Trans-Canada Trail website. What to do? We make it up as best we can.
Speaking of signs, some of them demand your attention for an entirely different reason.

Bridges and overpasses continue to be a favourite of mine. In fact the hard part is selecting which ones I want to highlight on this blog.




This adventure is taking us down country roads and into little nooks and crannies we wouldn’t otherwise have a reason to explore. Some cause us to pause while others we just quietly acknowledge.

Love the totem pole 🙂
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Me too 🙂
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I lived in Pickering for many years, and my youngest son was born there. Thank you for these great shots of ‘home’!
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You’re welcome 🙂
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love that totem pole, such an interesting trip you had! The memorial for a lost child gave me pause
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I like totem poles so it’s always a treat when I encounter one unexpectedly.
This was the first roadside memorial I’ve ever seen with small stuffed toys. It was quite sad.
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Great bridges, and trails! The Horse marquee was fun, the security fence imposing, and the lost child memorial sad. What a range of emotions!
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When I put this group of photos together, it was unintentional that I was creating an emotional montage. It was more a nod to how diverse our discoveries can be.
Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
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I love how walks along unfamiliar paths yield such delights… and scenes of sadness. You just never know what you’ll find.
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That’s exactly what I was trying to express. Some walks are completely uneventful, and others are rich with discoveries. Sometimes I think our attitude that day plays a major part in it.
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I have never seen a memorial for a lost child before. This is both sweet and sad. I do like taking the road less travelled–you never know what you will find. Just curious about that nuclear power plant….did you run into any armed responders?
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I’ve never seen a roadside memorial like this one before either. At first I thought it was just a cute whimsical ‘art installation’, until it occurred to me what it really was 😦
Our car was parked in a small lot beside that fence and at the end of our walk, a vehicle came rolling through slowly, looking suspiciously like it was doing surveillance – black SUV, 2 men inside, uniforms, … that was the closest we came to ‘armed responders’.
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Great photos. The memorial is sad, but life is a basket of feelings. I like how you guys seem to be taking the lack of good information in stride. I think maybe you’re pioneers. Someday, people will talk about the brave souls that tried to follow this trail in the 2010’s
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LOL! Thanks for the laugh 🙂
Sometimes when I take photos though, I do have a thought about ‘before’ and ‘after’ scenarios. In 20 years will we be looking back on these photos and comparing them to the sprawl/development that occurred in the interim?
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It’s going to be interesting. There’s so much “photo evidence” of places these days. I drive by places and think “wasn’t this a corn field in the 90s” but you’re right, in 20 years we’ll be able to look back.
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I am struck by the wide range of sentiments triggered by this series of images.
Happy trails, Joanne!
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The trail does that to you …. sometimes you’re giddy happy, and the next a little melancholy.
Thanks for the encouragement Maggie 🙂
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